PART 3GREATER SUPPORT FOR CANADA’S VETERANSAND THEIR FAMILIESCanada’s women and men in uniform have served our country with bravery,honour and dignity—putting their lives at risk to protect the values we cherishmost. Our veterans deserve our greatest recognition and respect for their service.The Government is committed to ensuring that it delivers the programs andservices our veterans—and their families—need for a seamless and successfultransition from military to civilian life.Last year, Budget 2016 invested $5.6 billion over six years to give more money toveterans with injuries or illnesses incurred during military service. In particular,Budget 2016:• Raised income replacement under the Earnings Loss Benefit to 90 per cent ofpre-release salary for veterans who require rehabilitation or cannot returnto work.• Expanded access to higher grades of the Permanent Impairment Allowanceto better support veterans who have had their career options limited by aservice-related illness or injury.• Increased compensation for pain and suffering by increasing the DisabilityAward to a maximum of $360,000 in 2017.These measures represent a significant investment that will ensure that disabledveterans who are unable to return to the workforce because of their injuriesreceive higher lifelong financial support.Budget 2016 also restored critical access to services for veterans by:• Reopening nine service offices across the country, opening an additionalservice office and expanding outreach to veterans in the north.• Hiring additional case managers to reduce the client-to-case manager ratioto no more than 25:1 to help veterans make successful transitions tocivilian life.The Government has been actively consulting with the veterans’ community—from coast to coast to coast—to better understand the problems andchallenges facing Canadian veterans and their families throughout their lives.Building off these constructive conversations, Budget 2017 proposes measures to:• Help veterans transition from military service to civilian life.• Better support the families of ill and injured veterans, including caregivers.• Invest in mental health services and care for veterans at risk.

These measures are informed by mandate commitments, stakeholderconsultations, as well as the work of the Veterans Ombudsman. A recent statusupdate from the Ombudsman highlighted the achievements of his office,noting that:“Out of the 57 recommendations that weredeveloped in collaboration with Veterans’advocates and organizations, 37 have beenfully or partially implemented and 20 arewaiting to be addressed. Six of the items in theMinister of Veterans Affairs’ Mandate Letter arebased on my recommendations, and three ofthese were addressed in Budget 2016.”— Guy Parent, Veterans OmbudsmanThe Hill Times, February 20, 2017What Success Will Look Like• More veterans getting the skills, training and education theyneed for civilian employment.• Better support for families of ill and injured veterans,including caregivers.• Partnerships with third-party organizations to lead and pilotinnovative projects for veterans.• Better knowledge of how to prevent, assess and treat mentalhealth issues.

FURTHER ENHANCING LIFELONG FINANCIALSUPPORT FOR OUR ILL AND INJURED VETERANSBudget 2016 took an important step to significantly boost the Disability Award,the Earnings Loss Benefit and the Permanent Impairment Allowance forveterans—as recommended by the Veterans Ombudsman. Nevertheless, thefinancial supports for disabled veterans remain unnecessarily complex.Canada’s veterans deserve a simple, straightforward and understandablebenefits system that better meets their needs.

The Government of Canada will take further action to simplify these programs tobetter meet the needs of veterans. Specifically, the Government will moveforward with its plan to fulfill its commitment to re-establish lifelong pensions as anoption for injured veterans. This will provide an option for injured veterans toreceive their Disability Award through a monthly payment for life, rather than in aone-time payment. This change to the Disability Award is something that theveterans’ community has long advocated for and the Government remainscommitted to delivering. The Government has made considerable progress in itswork to develop the pension for life option and will announce further detailsthis year.Moving forward, the Government will continue to work with the veterans’community to examine the best way to streamline and simplify the system offinancial support programs currently offered to veterans.

CLOSING THE SEAM—SUPPORTING CANADIANARMED FORCES MEMBERS AND VETERANSDuring cross-country consultations, veterans and stakeholders consistentlyreported that their programs and benefits are complex, confusing and stressfulto navigate. For example, Canadian Armed Forces members and veterans donot know if post-traumatic stress disorder support should come from theDepartment of National Defence (DND) or Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC), orwho they should go to if they require family support. To confuse matters further,there are often overlapping programs that exist between DND and VAC and asa result, too many Canadian Armed Forces members and veterans face longwait times or fall through the cracks.To address this, VAC and DND have engaged in a joint effort to examine thebest way to streamline and simplify the dual support systems at VAC and DND.Budget 2017 announces that the Government will be undertaking atransformation of both DND and VAC programs to ensure our women and menin uniform have a better transition from the Canadian Armed Forces to VAC. TheGovernment will initiate a convergence action plan that will see VAC and DNDaddressing the overlap and gaps that currently exist for Canadian Armed Forcesmembers released from the military. The plan will also simplify benefits so thatveterans will have a streamlined, client-centric process that is easier to navigate,gets veterans their services quicker and helps them transition to civilian life.These efforts will contribute significantly to building a new relationship of trust withCanadian Armed Forces members, veterans and their families.

A NEW VETERANS’ EDUCATION ANDTRAINING BENEFITAfter putting themselves in harm’s way in service to our country, our women andmen in uniform deserve a successful transition to civilian life. A smooth transition isvital for the overall well-being of our veterans and their families.To help, Budget 2017 proposes to amend legislation to create a new Educationand Training Benefit. In short, this benefit would provide more money for veteransto go to college, university or a technical school after they complete theirservice, through an investment of $133.9 million over six years, starting in 2016–17,and $10.3 million per year ongoing.The new program would begin in April 2018 for veterans honourably released onor after April 1, 2006. Veterans with 6 years of eligible service would be entitled toup to $40,000 of benefits, while veterans with 12 years of eligible service wouldbe entitled to up to $80,000 of benefits.ENHANCING CAREER TRANSITION SERVICESIn addition to providing more money for veterans to go back to school, Budget2017 proposes to amend legislation to enhance the Career Transition ServicesProgram. This measure would equip veterans, Canadian Armed Forcesmembers, survivors, and veterans’ spouses and common-law partners with thetools they need to successfully navigate and transition to the civilian workforce.The services offered would be expanded to include coaching and jobplacement assistance, all of which would be provided through a nationalcontractor starting in April 2018. The investment would total $74.1 million oversix years, starting in 2016–17, and $4.5 million per year ongoing.

How Veterans Will BenefitDavid is a 32-year-old Canadian Armed Forces member whowill be released in the summer of 2018 after 12 years of servicein the Regular Force as an ammunition technician. He isplanning on going back to school full-time for a three-yearcollege course to become a civil engineering technician. Hewill receive an education benefit of $20,000 per year for eachof those three years. Depending on his family income, Davidcould also be eligible to receive student grants and loansthrough the Canada Student Loans Program. In addition,David can access employment services such as careercounselling and job-search training under the Career TransitionServices Program to assist him in re-entering the labour forcefollowing the completion of his studies.

CAREGIVER RECOGNITION BENEFITInformal caregivers—who are often family members—play an integral andirreplaceable role in supporting ill and injured veterans after they leave service.Yet the sacrifices informal caregivers make for their loved ones are not beingproperly recognized.Budget 2017 proposes to amend legislation and invest $187.3 million over sixyears, starting in 2016–17, and $9.5 million per year ongoing, to create theCaregiver Recognition Benefit for modern-day veterans. This benefit wouldreplace the existing Family Caregiver Relief Benefit and would provide a moregenerous non-taxable $1,000 monthly benefit payable directly to caregivers tobetter recognize and honour the vital role they play.ELIMINATING VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION TIMELIMITS FOR VETERANS’ SURVIVORS AND SPOUSESWhen a soldier serves in the Canadian Armed Forces, their family serveswith them.Military families deal with anxieties and challenges that most Canadians willnever have to face, with spouses, common-law partners and family membersoften sacrificing job and educational opportunities. These burdens arecompounded when veterans die as a result of a service-related injury, or whenveterans have permanent service-related injuries that prevent them fromreturning to work.Currently, vocational rehabilitation programs are available to eligible survivorsand spouses, but there is a one-year time limit for application from the death ofa veteran or when a veteran is determined to be permanently disabled. Theveterans’ community has shared that this time limit does not recognize the factthat it can take more than one year to adjust to the death or permanentdisability of a veteran. Quite simply, survivors and spouses need more flexibility touse the supports that are available to them. The one-year time limit representsadded stress for military families experiencing traumatic transitions.To recognize this and to ensure that military families have the time they need toadjust to new and difficult circumstances, Budget 2017 proposes to invest$23.8 million over six years, starting in 2016–17, and $2.1 million per year ongoing,to eliminate the one-year time limit for eligible spouses and survivors as ofApril 1, 2018 so that they are able to apply to the Rehabilitation and VocationalAssistance Program whenever they are prepared to return to work.

EXPANDING ACCESS TO THE MILITARY FAMILYRESOURCE CENTRES FOR MEDICALLY RELEASEDVETERANS’ FAMILIESMilitary families are faced with long separations from loved ones, the spectre ofrelocation and the inherent risk that accompanies all those who serve. Canadahas a long history of supporting its military families, and the Military FamilyResource Centres are an important part of that effort.The Military Family Resource Centres provide the kind of help and support thatthe families of the women and men in active military service need most. Forexample, it connects families to mental health and wellness programs and ithelps military spouses find jobs or acquire new skills.To recognize the vital role played by the families of veterans living with physicaland mental health issues as a result of their service, Budget 2017 proposes toinvest $147.0 million over six years, starting in 2016–17, and $15.0 million per yearongoing, to expand access to the Military Family Resource Centres for thefamilies of veterans medically released from April 2018 onwards. This wouldincrease the availability of the Military Family Resource Centres for medicallyreleased veterans from 7 locations under the current pilot to all 32 locationsacross the country.In addition, in order to better support veterans and their families, Budget 2017proposes to invest $22.4 million over three years, starting in 2017–18, in anoutreach strategy to ensure they are informed of the range of supports availableto them.CREATING A CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE ON POSTTRAUMATICSTRESS DISORDER AND RELATEDMENTAL HEALTH CONDITIONSOur women and men in uniform are often exposed to traumatic stress, whichcan lead to psychological injuries. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a veryserious mental health issue, which negatively affects our veterans andtheir families.In order to improve the well-being of our veterans living with PTSD, Budget 2017proposes to create a Centre of Excellence on PTSD and related mental healthconditions. The Centre would have a strong focus on the creation anddissemination of knowledge on prevention, assessment and treatment of PTSDand related mental health conditions for veterans and Canadian Armed Forcesmembers. Budget 2017 proposes to invest $17.5 million over four years, starting in2018–19, and $9.2 million per year ongoing, to ensure the Centre has the tools itneeds to make a difference in the lives of our veterans.

VETERAN AND FAMILY WELL-BEING FUNDVeterans’ organizations are often best placed to understand the needs ofveterans and develop innovative programs to improve their quality of life.Building on this, the Government proposes to establish a Veteran and FamilyWell-Being Fund that would support the creation of innovative services andsupport specifically tailored to improving the quality of life for our veterans.Budget 2017 proposes to provide $13.9 million over four years, starting in 2018–19,and $3.5 million per year ongoing, to Veterans Affairs Canada to fosterinnovation across the public, private and academic fields. This Fund wouldselect proposals put forward by organizations to conduct research and developor implement a wide range of innovative programs that will make a realdifference in the lives of Canada’s veterans and their families.VETERAN EMERGENCY FUNDThere may be times when veterans and their families do not have immediateaccess to the food, shelter or medication they need. To help these families whenthey need it the most, Budget 2017 proposes to provide $4 million over four years,starting in 2018–19, and $1.0 million per year ongoing, to help Veterans AffairsCanada address the urgent situations faced by Canada’s veterans andtheir families.